She will be replaced by James Purnell as director for radio and education.

In a speech prepared for the Prix Italia festival, published in the Independent, Boaden said: “I am both curious about and thrilled by digital technology. But I am old enough and wise enough to know that nothing comes without a cost.

“To be frank, I worry about the direction in which we’re going. By ‘we’, by the way, I mean my profession, our profession – the media generally – not the BBC in particular.

“It seems to me that the media can sometimes rush very fast in order to stand still. Some of this is inherent in a particular medium.”

She added: “I feel very fortunate that I have spent most of that career enjoying the benefits of digital technology professionally and as a consumer. I could not live without it.

“But today in a world of fast, I am unapologetically speaking up for the virtues of slow.

“Slow Journalism which is engaging and dynamic of course but embodies impartiality, accuracy, expertise and evidence; the things which take time and resource.”

Boaden moved to her current role in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, having been the BBC’s director of news at the time Newsnight spiked allegations of child abuse against the presenter.